Menu

Eating Frogs

Mark Twain famously said that if it was your job to eat a frog, then it was best to do it first thing in the morning.

Motivational speaker, Brian Tracy, published a book titled Eat That Frog! in which he recommends doing your most vital and difficult task first each morning.

My father felt the best way to “eat a frog” was to cut it into bite-size pieces and then eat a couple of buzzing flies first to build momentum. Since he was a man who accomplished a lot, I can testify that the fly–fly–FROG method worked well for him. But my father was clear that in the end you had to ignore most of the buzzing flies and just eat the frog.

I admit I find it difficult to force myself to eat the frog first each morning. Like my father I find munching a fly or two does help me build momentum. Unfortunately, I’m easily distracted by buzzing flies. So if I’m not careful, I can reach the end of the day with the frog still on my plate.

What about you? Do you eat the frog first? Or do you need a fly appetizer to build the momentum to eat the frog?

5 comments on “Eating Frogs”

I have no doubt that eating the frog first would be more productive for me, but as I’m the opposite of a morning person, I find that very difficult. I eat flies first to warm up my brain, but as you said, that has a high distraction potential. Today is case in point, where I should have written and posted a blog first thing, but instead I started answering emails and now it’s already 10:30 and I’m still procrastinating. Ugh!

As a creature of habit and a morning person, I get productive pretty quickly. But if the frog is particularly tough, I have a harder time getting started than if it was an easier or simpler task. Size and scope are less factors for me. And I’m going to watch that video. Soon!